


Crowns and Blood (and Other Memories from My Childhood)

by Kittykat3e



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dream is only mentioned currently, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Medium Character Injury, That will change and so will other tags as the story progresses, The comfort part will come later I promise, The first chapter is pure pain sorry about that, There’s not enough Eret + Techno content in the world so I went and made some, this is one hell of a first fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:29:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27278773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittykat3e/pseuds/Kittykat3e
Summary: Technoblade didn’t particularly like scouting.It wasn’t that it was an awful job to do, it just wasn’t something he really liked doing, if he could avoid it.It’s not like he was bad at it, either. He had all the necessary skills; he was stealthy, tactical, and a pretty damn good fighter.It’s just that... well.It’sreallygoddamn boring.(That is, unless recently stabbed strangers decide to stumble into the area you’re scouting.)
Relationships: Dave | Technoblade & Eret (Video Blogging RPF), No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 201





	Crowns and Blood (and Other Memories from My Childhood)

Technoblade didn’t particularly like scouting.

It wasn’t that it was an awful job to do, it just wasn’t something he really liked doing, if he could avoid it.

It’s not like he was bad at it, either. He had all the necessary skills; he was stealthy, tactical, and a pretty damn good fighter.

It’s just that... well.

It’s _really_ goddamn boring.

Like seriously.

Nothing ever happens, which is probably due to the fact that the base he’s scouting for is in the middle of absolutely nowhere, surrounded by a forest. If people were actually out searching for Pogtopia (Who really knows, at this point), they wouldn’t be finding it anytime soon, and even if they were right outside the entrance, they’d probably pass it by. It was a secret base, after all.

Techno stares into the snow covered forest glistening in the sunlight below him from his perch a top a tree. Oh well. Someone has to scout, he guesses. There’s always the possibility that someone does end up finding them, and it’d be much better if they knew about it before hand.

Technoblade’s attention span just isn’t cut out for this.

He sighs, as he lays down in the tree and closes his eyes. He wasn’t usually one for slacking off, but his brain was just not in the mood for scouting today, and he couldn’t really find the energy to argue with it. And it’s not like he’s letting his guard totally down. He’s still listening after all, although it’s only normal forest noises.

The snow fall softly hisses as it descends from the sky.

The wind rustles the leaves as it passes by.

The nearby stream rushes along.

Somebody with a deep voice curses under their breath.

Hold up.

Techno immediately shifted into a crouching position and scoured the area for the source of the muttering. 

They weren’t too hard locate; they were slumped against a tree about 20 ft away, positioned in such a way that while Techno couldn’t really see their face, he could see the whole left side of their body. They were adorned in regal attire from head to toe, and wearing a golden crown to match. In their hand they held a pair of black sunglasses that somehow both did and did not fit with the rest of their outfit, and Techno couldn’t shake the feeling he’d seen those glasses somewhere before. But that was probably just Techno being superstitious. He had only actually ever met 3 of the people on the smp, those 3 people being Wilbur and Tommy, (duh) and Dream himself (Being a potato farmer really wasn’t as peaceful as it sounded) Sure, now that he’d joined their side, he had heard about a lot of the others from his fellow Pogtopians, but he couldn’t remember them ever talking about someone with black sunglasses specifically, and if they had, he had been zoned out at the time. 

It’s not like it really mattered though, he just needed to stay put in this tree and keep and eye on the stranger until they moved away from the area, and then he could report the incident to Wilbur and Tommy later, when they came back from... whatever it was they were doing today. (When Techno had asked, Tommy had simply said “Important shit,” and sauntered off.)

Except the stranger wasn’t moving, they were just... leaning there, still mumbling about something that Techno couldn’t quite make out. And the more Techno stared, the more he was positive that he had seen those sunglasses before, and the more he needed to know where he recognized them from. 

After weighing the pros and cons for a couple more seconds Techno, as silently as possible, shimmed himself down from his perch. With a bit of zigzagging and careful maneuvering, he was able to successfully use the undergrowth to move himself into a bush about 15 feet away from the stranger, where he would be able to see their face much more clearly. It definitely also helped the stranger was pretty preoccupied with their own muttering. 

As Techno peered through his bushy hideout, he noticed 3 things that were not previously apparent from his tree top vantage point.

1\. The stranger’s path to the tree, which had been blocked from his sight by said tree, was dotted with splotches of red that could really only be blood.  
2\. Techno _knows_ it’s blood because he can also now see that the stranger’s unusual, slumped posture is because they’re fiercely gripping the right side of their stomach, where blood was gushing out and pooling in the snow beside the stranger at a really quiet alarming rate.  
3\. After observing all that, Techno suddenly remembers the reason he had moved to this bush in the first place, and looked up to the stranger’s face to finally see who they were. 

Holy _shit_ , of course he recognized those sunglasses. 

Secrecy be damned, Techno immediately rushed over to the slumped figure and, unsure of what he was supposed to do in this situation, said the only clear thought that came to mind.

_”Eret?”_

Eret opened his glowing eyes and turned them to Techno, a look of shock replacing his previously pained expression.

_”Techno???”_

His expression almost immediately morphed into back into one of pain and regret, although this time, it looked like it wasn’t just because of the stab wound. 

“Great. Now not only am I going to bleed out in the middle of nowhere, running away from one group of people who don’t want me to another, I’m going to do it while hallucinating. It’s nice to see you again though, even if you’re not actually here.” Techno had no idea how he was meant to respond to that. He had never seen Eret so pessimistic before. Sure, their friendship had never really been about deep emotion, (Social interaction was never either of their strong suits.) so it’s not like he’d seen a whole lot of pessimism from Eret before in general, but it was still jarring. 

There were more important issues than Techno’s own emotional repression, though. Namely that of that fact that if he didn’t act quickly, Eret really was going to bleed out in the middle of the nowhere, and Techno would rather that didn’t happen. 

Techno got to work untying the red satin sash secured around his waist, as it was the best thing he currently had with him to contain the blood flow. For a lack of anything better to say, he responded to Eret’s previous statement.

“It’s nice to see you again too.” Eret gave a dismissive snort. 

“You sure about that? I have just been stabbed.” Techno moved Eret’s hands away from the wound so that he could tie the sash. Eret flinched a little, but otherwise didn’t complain, which Techno took as a sign that he could continue. He decided to deflect with comedy. 

“Eh, we all get stabbed from time to time.” Despite the current situation, Eret actually laughed a little. Good. His deflection had been successful. He finished tying the sash around Eret’s waist, and was immediately faced with the problem of what to do next. The sash would help, but it certainly wasn’t going to fix the stab wound, so it’s not like he could just leave Eret here. Taking him back to civilization would take far to long, and anyway, Techno would rather not risk running into whoever attacked Eret in the first place. Really, there was only one option. Techno sighed. Hopefully “Important shit” took a really long time to do.

“Hey, Eret. Wanna see my secret base?” Techno asked, standing up and extending his hand towards Eret. He sat there, considering the offer for a second.

“You know what, hallucinatory Technoblade? Why not.” He half smiled, and grabbed onto Techno’s outstretched hand. Techno hauled him to his feet and slung Eret’s arm over his shoulder, because there was no way he was going to be able to carry Eret, seeing as they were the same height. It was normally a 5 minute walk back to Pogtopia, but with the additional weight of half-dragging Eret, it was a good 7-8 minute trip. 

For the first half of the walk, neither of them said anything. Techno himself was far too busy trying to think up game plans of what to do if Wilbur and Tommy came home sooner than expected to even consider interacting with the person at his side. He was pretty sure he’d be able find somewhere hide Eret if need be; after all, Pogtopia at it’s core was really just 2 intersecting ravines surrounded by a bunch of cave systems. There were plenty of unexplored corners one could hide in. That wasn’t the problem. The problem would be getting Eret back out again. There was almost always someone besides himself at home base. Tommy and Wilbur spent most of their time in and around Pogtopia; days like this one where they were both out doing something were a rare occurrence. Even if they did have another important mission to attend to sometime soon, there’s no telling how soon they’d be back. They could easily walk in on him sneaking Eret out. What would he do then? What _could_ he do then? He’s completely betraying their trust; he’d almost definitely be kicked out, if not killed. And even though he’d never admit it, that scared him. He hadn’t seen his brothers in over 2 years, (He had no idea they were even _alive_ until 5 days ago) and he didn’t want to lose them again, even if it was for Eret’s sake. Surely they would understand though, right? He couldn’t exactly leave Eret to die, could he??? ...Could he? ...Oh god, this was a mistake-

“Hey, Techno?” Techno just barely managed to suppress a flinch as he was forcibly dragged from the depths of his own mind and into reality. He gave a noise of vague intrigue as his brain reacquainted it’s self with his surroundings.

“I know it doesn’t really matter, because you’re just a figment of my imagination and what not, but I have to ask: Why are you here?” Techno sighed. It wasn’t that it was a bad question, he actually asked himself the exact same thing alarmingly often, it’s just that he had never come up with a simple answer. There was only one short answer that ever came to mind, but it wasn’t very good. He said it anyway.

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it sometime.” Eret turned his face away from Techno and towards the snow below them. He gave a sad sort of smile that looked completely out of place on someone as naturally upbeat as Eret’s face.

“I thought you might say that. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m going to be around long enough to hear it. Thanks for the offer, though.” Everything about the way Eret was speaking put Techno on edge. It’s not that Techno was turned off by the topics of death and misery, no, he was quite familiar with those. He had seen people die, he had seen the desperation and sadness in their eyes as they realized their fate, and he himself had often been the cause of it. Yes, Technoblade knew of death and misery. The thing he never got used to was people accepting it. How could you do that? How could you just give in like that? How could you give in when there was still hope? When you didn’t deserve to die? When it shouldn’t have been you, when it should it should have been _him-_

_*(“It’s okay, it’s okay, I’m here now, I’ve got you. It’s okay-“  
“Techno-“  
“You’re gonna be fine, okay? I’m gonna get you out of here-“  
“Techno.”  
“You know, you had me worried there for a second, I actually kinda thought-“  
**“Techno.”**  
“...”  
“Techno, we both know this is it for me. Even if you were able to carry me out of this place without it falling to pieces on top of us, the blood loss would kill me before we reached anywhere that could treat the wound. I’m sorry, but there’s no way I’m making it out of this alive.”  
“That-“  
“But just because I’m a goner doesn’t mean you have to suffer the same fate. Not everything has caught in fire just yet, if you run you can make it to the boats at the back of the castle without being detected.”  
“No-“  
“You’re still young, you have your whole life ahead of you. Unfortunately, I’m not going to be around long enough to see it, but I’m sure whatever you grow up to be, you’ll make me proud.”  
“ **Phil.** I can’t- I can’t just leave you here to **die.** ”  
“You have to, Techno. It’s the only option.”  
“I-I know it is, I know that, but Phil, I can’t just- I can’t-“  
“Please Techno. For me.”  
“... Phil.”  
“Techno.”  
“I love you.”  
“I love you too, son.”)_

Stop stop stop _stop_. He wasn’t going to let that happen again, not if there was something he could do about it. Dragging himself back from the hellish nightmare that was his own brain for the second time this walk, Techno realized that they were almost at their destination. Rounding the corner, Techno saw the familiar unsuspecting mountain side that had become the entrance to Pogtopia. Clearing away the dirt that covered the open doorway, Techno dragged Eret inside and carefully replaced the aforementioned dirt that was Pogtopia’s only line of defense against the outside world. Eret didn’t say anything about the whole ordeal, which probably wasn’t a good sign, seeing as what had just happened wasn’t really an everyday occurrence. Turning back around to check, Techno determined that while Eret wasn’t out cold just yet, but he was so completely unaware of the world around him that he might as well have been. Wrapping Eret’s arm back around his shoulder, Techno moved as quickly as possible down the spiral staircase and into the ravine as one could while half-dragging a 6’3 man. Once they reached the ravine, Techno directed them over the bridge and into the lesser used half of Pogtopia’s first ravine. From there they took one final turn into a hollowed out bit of cave Techno had claimed as his own. Setting down Eret on his bed, Techno rummaged through his chests to find the necessary medical supplies for treating stab wounds. By the time he had found the supplies and come back to the bedside, Eret had finally blacked out, which Techno hoped would stay that way for Eret’s own sake. Techno got to work disinfecting and stitching up the wound, after which he wrapped the entire thing in a bandage. Looking over his work, Techno breathed a sigh of relief. Eret wasn’t dead, he was just a bit worse for the wear. Everything was going to be fine. 

Even though it was only early afternoon, the absolute emotional stress that had already occurred had taken its toll on Techno’s energy, and he could feel the last of his adrenaline draining away by the second. Eret was fast asleep on Techno’s already barely big enough bed, but that didn’t really matter because at this point, even the cold, hard, cave floor was looking inviting. Pulling out an extra couple of blankets from a chest, Techno made the stone around him as comfortable as possible and went to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to the wonderful @VixKoidy on Twitter for brainstorming Techno, Phil, Wilbur, and Tommy’s backstory with me, and also keeping me motivated to finish this first chapter in general!!! Love ya buddy <333 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!!! This is my first full fanfic ever, so please feel free to tell me how I did, whether it be outstanding or abysmal! 
> 
> Thank you for reading!!!


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